Dr Richard Fletcher

A helping hand for fathers

A team leader within the
Faculty of Health and Medicine's Family Action Centre, Dr Richard Fletcher is
shining a spotlight on the role of fathers.

Dr Richard Fletcher
leads the Fathers and Families Research Program (FFRP) within the Family Action
Centre at the University of Newcastle.

The FFRP team
focus on research and teaching around fathers, particularly fathers of young
children and babies.

Richard
believes that we as a society need to change our expectations and beliefs relating
to the role of fathers, for the benefit of the whole family and wider society.

Actively
working towards this goal, Richard and his team have several projects in the
works. They are in the process of trialing a smartphone based program that will
offer information, mood assessment and support for new and expectant fathers,
in a bid to identify and address paternal perinatal depression.

Another
project, run by Dr Jennifer St George, is assessing the importance and safe limits
of rough and tumble play between fathers and children, beginning with
pre-school aged children.

A third
project sees Dr Chris May working with couples on parenting partnerships. Through
identifying and encouraging factors that create successful co-parenting dynamics,
the projects aims to enhance the well-being of all members of the family.

As a result
of the team's work, both government departments and non-government
organisations (NGOs) have begun to review their policies and
standard practices to identify and enhance opportunities for fathers'
involvement.

CHANGING
PERCEPTIONS

As well as
teaching courses in the Master in Family Studies program, the team provide
consultancy services to organisations around Australia, and across the globe,
on how to more successfully engage fathers in areas that have previously been
dominated by maternal caregivers.

Richard sees
the consultation work that he and the team at the Family Action Centre undertake
with health professionals, and other services such as schools and welfare
agencies, as a giant step towards changing understandings of the roles of
fathers. But there is still a long way to go.

"There's
still a very strong idea in the community
and amongst professionals about parental roles. Many think that engaging mothers
as the primary caregiver is sufficient, and fathers are just an optional extra,"
he explains.

"Fathers are
invisible in many places, and that is endemic. Not because people dislike
fathers, but because the system is set up to be focused on mothers."

Some services
and organisations are aware of the need to engage dads, but have been
unsuccessful in their attempts.

"When people are
challenged about this, they generally want dads involved," Richard affirms.

"Often,
however, they just don't know how to do it."

ADDRESSING
ROADBLOCKS HEAD ON

Richard's
research revealed possible long-term negative impacts on the children of dads
with mental health issues. Fathers' depressive symptoms in the first year after
the birth predicted behavior problems in their children years later.

"If dads'
mental health has such a dramatic impact then we need to be screening dads for
depression, not just mums," Richard explains.

"This is a
relatively new idea."

"We were so
focused on the mum being the main affect that we didn't factor in the dads. Now
we see it matters a lot, right from birth."

New costs
related to babies, decreased family income due to maternal leave, plus new and extra
family related duties, often combine to make the physical attendance of men at
perinatal services impractical.

This
increased pressure comes at a time where changes to routines and relationships
can create stress and isolation, making dads vulnerable.

"We always
worked on the idea that dad's should come to the same groups as the mums,
parenting classes and things like that," he recalls.

"But then we
thought, what if you weren't trying to do that, what if you accepted the fact
that they're not able to come in, how do you talk to them?"

BUILDING
FOUNDATIONS

In response
to these limitations, Richard and his team have designed a smart-phone based
program that allows mobile connection for new and expectant dads.

Participants
will receive texts containing information and links, and self-report their
mood. If the mood tracker identifies them as needing extra support, they will
be offered a phone call from a counsellor trained in this area.

Following the
recent success of a six week pilot of the SMS4dads program, a twelve month
trial will start later this year. Funding for the program, which includes a
website and social media presence, comes from Beyond Blue and the Movember
Foundation.

"When dad's
miss the classes or activities, they miss the contact and the links to other
people. They may never get the chance to
say to anyone, look I'm really stressed," he points out.

"This is a
way of bringing dads into the system and keeping them hooked up," explains
Richard.

TAILORED
AND TARGETED SUPPORT

Although only
in the trial phase, the SMS4dads project has already produced spin-off
programs.

Richard and
his team are working with the Young and Well Co-operative Research Centre,
local Aboriginal communities, and the University of Newcastle's Centre for
Rural and Remote Mental Health to develop a website for young Aboriginal dads.

The Stayin'
on Track: Young Aboriginal Fathers Project is focused on the experiences of
young Aboriginal dads in Moree, Tamworth and Newcastle.

The project
participants receive the same smartphone mood assessment and information as the
SMS4Dads users, but also receive follow up support directly from community
leaders and project facilitators, Charlie Faulkner and Craig Hammond.

A pivotal
component of the project involves the participants sharing their stories.
Filmed interviews with the fathers will be available on the website for other
dads to access.

Another
spin-off is in the works with the Queensland Department of Health.

"They were
looking to run a project using SMS messages for mums. When they heard about our
SMS for dads projects they approached us to partner with them," Richard
explains.

"It's a much
more mainstream approach so we're very excited about that."

A
SEASONED WARRIOR

Richard
credits a varied career, a talented and innovative team, and much life
experience for affording him the insight needed to address the challenges
related to actively engaging dads.

Following a
stint as a high school science teacher, Richard took up to a position in the
Equity Unit at the University of Newcastle.

From there
his maths and teaching qualifications gained him a position in Holistic Health
within the Faculty of Health.

After
completing his masters in Medical Science, studying epidemiology, Richard earned
his PhD focusing on fathers and attachment.

Although not
a clinician himself, Richard often works with health professionals on issues
related to fathers, and has delivered many antenatal programs for expectant
dads.

He credits
his own family with giving him the advanced understanding of the role of
fathers needed to make his work relevant.

"I have three
daughters and two stepdaughters,"

"My kids
would say they taught me just about everything I know and they'd be right. They've
taught me a lot, and still do."

Career Summary

Biography

As a natural extension of the development at the University of Newcastle of 'boyswork' a new area of gender-related practice linking social and physical health and education, Richard Fletcher, began to incorporate fathers into the program development model at the Family Action Centre which was focused on working with established services to help them include 'marginalised' groups into the normal service delivery. This approach, focusing on service providers rather than on the clients as 'the problem' had been successfully introduced into the Men's Health arena through the presentations and role of Richard Fletcher at national conferences and as advisor to state and federal government departments. In the case of fathers the Bernard van Leer Foundation agreed to fund a significant project, The Engaging Fathers Project, over five years to develop effective models of father engagement among services addressing the needs of children 0-8. This project led to research reports, resources and training for service staff in all states and territories. Change at the national level was achieved due to several initiatives: the Engaging Fathers Project was funded to conduct a review of fatherhood research in Australia (a recommendation from this review was to have a national Practitioners Forum to draw together examples of capacity building to involve fathers); Richard Fletcher had that key role incorporating fathers into the discussion at the Parenting in Australia national workshop hosted by FACSIA; Richard Fletcher and Judi Geggie presented invited seminars in Canberra to FACSIA staff; the Father Inclusive Practice Forum was subsequently funded. These activities resulted in changes to FACSIA management (funded programs are now required to report separately on the involvement of mothers and fathers - an important first step to addressing the lack of fathers involvement). State government departments and NGOs (for example Karitane) have begun to review their policies and standard practices to identify avenues for fathers involvement.

Current research projects include:

Developing a User-guided Website for Young Aboriginal Fathers (as Project Leader with team of 8 researchers) , Paternal Perinatal Depression Initiative (as Project Leader with team of 90 researchers and clinicians), Video-Feedback training in Families with Cerebral Palsy (as Project Leader with 8 researchers and clinicians), Father-child Rough and Tumble Play (as Project Leader with 2 other researchers).

Research ExpertiseDesigned and conducted research into fathers' role in families across diverse settings such as separated parents, new fathers, antenatal support, rough and tumble play with children, fathers using the web. Also research into practitioners' role in promoting father-infant and father-child contact for the benefit of the whole family.

Teaching ExpertiseDesigned and delivered courses and seminars on Health Research, Boys development, Engaging Fathers in Human Services, Separated Fathers, Fathers and Postnatal Depression, Father-infant Attachment and Working with Fathers in Vulnerable Families to undergraduate and postgraduate level and to professionals in health, education and welfare.

Administrative ExpertiseCoordinator of undergraduate and postgraduate online and blended courses. Project leader for large multi-component research projects.

CollaborationsMy current projects involve working with researchers and clinicians from Pediatrics, Nursing, Midwifery, Education, Epidemiology, Psychiatry, Early Childhood, Social Work, Psychology in all states of Australia and UK, Sweden, Poland, Canada, USA , Israel and The Netherlands. I also collaborate with those working in Disability and with several Aboriginal researchers.

The missing father in everyday healthcare Organisation: Best Practice for Better Health! 6th UIHPE European Conference on Effectiveness and Quality of Health Promotion
Description:
The missing father in everyday healthcare lessons from the Engaging Fathers Program of Australia Best Practice for Better Health! 6th UIHPE European Conference on Effectiveness and Quality of Health Promotion Stockholm, Sweden 2005

2004

Connecting The Dots: fathers, boys, families and strengthsOrganisation: Working with Fathers: Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children conference Children North East
Description:
Connecting The Dots: fathers, boys, families and strengths
11th March 2004.
Working with Fathers: Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children conference Children North East, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England

Fletcher R, 'Including fathers in work with vulnerable families', Working with Vulnerable Families: A Partnership Approach, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 135-155 (2010) [B1]

2006

Fletcher R, 'Male role models', Educating Boys: The Good News: Insights from a Selection of Papers Presented at the 4th Biennial Working with Boys, Building Fine Men Conference, Family Action Centre, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 25-37 (2006) [B2]

Unintentional injury is an important cause of infant and child hospitalisation and parents play a key role in reducing children's risk-taking behaviour. Studies show that maternal... [more]

Unintentional injury is an important cause of infant and child hospitalisation and parents play a key role in reducing children's risk-taking behaviour. Studies show that maternal and paternal parenting and supervision of children differ, but there is little research showing how fathersÂ¿ parenting may influence children's tendency to engage in risk-taking behaviour. Recent theoretical developments suggest that father's parenting may be particularly effective in encouraging safe risk taking. In this study, we examine how well parenting practices typically undertaken by fathers predict rates of children's injury risk at three years. Questionnaire data were collected from 46 fathers. Results show that both duration of rough-and-tumble play and fathersÂ¿ encouragement of perseverance predicted lower rates of injury behaviours, while their stimulation of risk taking predicted higher rates of injury behaviours. The results are discussed in the light of developmentally appropriate risk taking and fathering.

SYNOPSIS: Objective. Coparenting quality has been linked to both parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy in families of typically developing children, but little is known abo... [more]

SYNOPSIS: Objective. Coparenting quality has been linked to both parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy in families of typically developing children, but little is known about relations between these factors in families where there is a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study employed structural equation modeling to explore relations among coparenting quality, autism-specific parenting self-efficacy, and parenting stress in mothers and fathers of children with an ASD. Design. A cohort of biological mothers (n = 80) and fathers (n = 72) who were caring for their young child (age < 13) with a diagnosed ASD self-completed validated surveys assessing parenting stress, coparenting quality, and autism-specific parenting self-efficacy. Results. Both mothers and fathers reported high and similar levels of parenting stress which shared predictive relations with both coparenting quality and autism-specific parenting self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the relations between perceptions of autism-specific parenting self-efficacy and parenting stress were mediated by coparenting quality. Conclusion. Coparenting quality shares an important relation with parenting stress in both mothers and fathers of children with an ASD, and enhanced perceptions of autism-specific parenting self-efficacy are unlikely to influence parenting stress when parents experience poor quality coparenting.

Birth data from developed countries indicates that the average paternal age is increasing. As the trend to older fatherhood has become established, concerns have been raised that ... [more]

Birth data from developed countries indicates that the average paternal age is increasing. As the trend to older fatherhood has become established, concerns have been raised that this may be linked to adverse outcomes, such as pregnancy complications, congenital anomalies, and long-term health implications for the child. Since the sperm of older fathers may be impaired due to the general effects of ageing, their offspring may be at risk due to defects in sperm quality at conception. A literature search was performed to identify pregnancy complications, fetal anomalies and health issues for the child when the father is in an older age bracket. Evidence for impairment in the sperm and genetic material of older fathers was reviewed. With an older father, there is evidence of an increase in stillbirths and a slightly increased risk of autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in the offspring later in life. The increased risk of achondroplasia has long been recognised. For the mother, there is an increased rate of Caesarean section. Investigations of other possible adverse outcomes have produced mixed findings. Further robust and longitudinal studies are needed to clarify these issues.

A significant proportion of fathers living with their natural, adopted, step or foster children experience mental illness. Psychiatric illness among fathers can have a devastating... [more]

A significant proportion of fathers living with their natural, adopted, step or foster children experience mental illness. Psychiatric illness among fathers can have a devastating impact on children's wellbeing, and even milder forms of paternal mental illness can have serious developmental effects on children. While several pathways linking paternal mental illness with poor child outcomes have been identified, fathers' impaired parenting is an important, potentially malleable factor. Clinicians can assist fathers with mental illness and their families by proactively inquiring about children and by exploring fathering-focused psychological support.

Conference (25 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2013

May CD, fletcher, dempsey, newman, 'The importance of Coparenting Quality as a predictor of Parenting Stress in families where there is a child with an ASD.', Asia Pacific autism Conference 2013, Adelaide (2013)

May CD, Fletcher, Dempsey, Newman, 'The Importance of the Quality of the Coparenting Partnership in Predicting Parenting Stress in Parents of Children with an ASD.', IMFAR conference proceedings, San Sebastian, Spain (2013)

Fletcher R, Prichard P, 'Fathering at the heart of early childhood: Why fathers should be central to our rethinking of early childhood in Australia', National Men's Health Gathering 2009: Program and Abstracts, Newcastle, NSW (2009) [E3]

Fletcher R, St George JM, 'Practitioners' understanding of father engagement in the context of family dispute resolution', 10th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference: Program & Abstracts, Melbourne, VIC (2008) [E3]